Admiral

Deshamanya Deshamanya ( si, දේශමාන්‍ය, translit=Dēshamāṉya; ta, தேசமான்ய, translit=Tēcamāṉya; Pride of the Nation) is the second-highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the Government of Sri Lanka as a ...

D. Basil Gunasekara (born 7 May 1929) was the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy from 1973 to 1979.

Early life and education

Born to a planter in Katana, Gunasekara was the youngest child of a family of five members. Educated at

Mahinda College Mahinda College is a Buddhist boys' school in Galle, Sri Lanka. The school was established on 1 March 1892 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. As of May 2022 it is a national school providing primary and secon ...

Galle Galle ( si, ගාල්ල, translit=Gālla; ta, காலி, translit=Kāli) (formerly Point de Galle) is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, from Colombo. Galle is the provincial capital and largest city of Southern ...

where he was a champion athlete and a member of the senior cricket team and then at the

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a Single-sex education, selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academ ...

where he was a senior cadet of the Royal College Cadet Contingent, a champion athlete and played Cricket for Royal College.

Naval career

Gunasekara first joined the

Ceylon Police Force (The one who lives by the Dhamma is protected by the Dhamma itself) , mission = , formedyear = , preceding1 = Ceylon Police Force (1866–1972) , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = ...

as a Sub-Inspector of Police on the recommendation of DIG Sydney de Zoysa, Director of Police Training. However he resigned three years later to join the

Royal Ceylon Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

as a direct entry

Sub Lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

to the executive branch in 1951 and received his training at the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equiv ...

followed by specialized training at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

and

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

. On his return to Ceylon he was assigned to HMS ''Newfoundland'',

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the f ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

's East Indies Fleet. Gunasekara's first duty station was as training officer in the Naval Training Establishment at HMCyS ''Rangalla'' in

Diyatalawa Diyatalawa (දියතලාව, meaning “the watered plain”) is a former garrison town in the central highlands of Sri Lanka, in the Badulla District of Uva Province. It is situated at an altitude of and has become a popular destinatio ...

. In 1955 he was given his first command of a small base at Talai Mannar. During the 1958 communal riots he was sent to command the HMRCyS ''Tissa'' in

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

which was the home of the Ceylon's Naval Fleet. Thereafter he underwent

ASW ASW, a three-letter abbreviation, may refer to: * an Associate Clinical Social Worker (ASW) in the state of California * High-temperature insulation wool#alumino silicate wool *Asynchronous SpaceWarp, a framerate smoothing technique used on the Ocul ...

at HMS ''Osprey'' in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. Making

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in 1962 and attended

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – ( Indian Military Service, Indian Nav ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

in 1963. He served as an extra ADC to

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy ...

in 1965. From 1964 to 1970, he served as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

at the Naval Headquarters in Colombo before taking up command as the command of shore establishments in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mos ...

. In 1970 Commander Gunasekara was appointed Captain of HMRCy ''Gajabahu'' the

of the Royal Ceylon Navy. He became Chief of Staff of the Navy in 1971 and played a major role in during 1971 JVP Insurrection, when naval personnel were deployed for shore duty to help the army and police in suppressing it. In 1972, he became the first Sri Lankan officer to attend the National Defence College,

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the NCT Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati B ...

. In 1973 he was appointed as Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star " admiral" rank. It is often rega ...

and would hold the post for six years retiring in 1979, with the rank of vice admiral. During this time his flag lieutenant was

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

(later Admiral of the Fleet) Wasantha Karannagoda, who later became the Commander of the Navy.

Honors

During his long career in the navy, he received the

Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal The Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal was awarded to members of the regular and volunteer forces of the Military of Sri Lanka who were in service on 22 May 1972, subject to recommendation by the commanders of the respective service com ...

Sri Lanka Navy 25th Anniversary Medal The Sri Lanka Navy 25th Anniversary Medal ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා නාවික හමුදා 25වන සංවත්සර පදක්කම ''Śrī Laṃkā nāvika hamudā visipasvana sangwathsara padakkama'') was awarde ...

Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal The Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal ( Sinhala: සන්නද්ධ සේවා දීර්ඝ සේවා පදක්කම ''ārakśaka sēvā dhīrgha sēvā padakkama'') was a service medal of Ceylon from 1968 to 1972. It was g ...

and clasp, and the Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal. He was awarded the title of

by the Sri Lankan government and in 2007 he was promoted to the rank of Admiral along with 9 other former service commanders.Former service chiefs promoted
/ref>

Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services ribbon bar

Sri Lanka Navy 25th Anniversary Medal ribbon bar

Ceylon Armed Services Long Service Medal ribbon bar

Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal ribbon bar

Later life

After retirement, he served as

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all ...

of Ceylon Match Company for 12 years and chairman, State Development and Construction Corporation for seven years. He was awarded the title of

by the

president of Sri Lanka The President of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජනාධිපති ''Śrī Laṃkā Janādhipathi''; ta, இலங்கை சனாதிபதி ''Ilankai janātipati'') is the head of state and head of government of t ...

for his services rendered to the country. He was the president of the Association of Flag Rank Officers (ARFRO).

Family

Admiral Gunasekara married Clara Nagahawatte, a daughter of a former

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

, E.D. Nagahawatta, in 1953, and they have four children Sriyanga, Piyal, Kapila and Ranil. Piyal Gunasekara joined the navy and went on to achieve the rank of

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

before retiring after 20 years of service.

References

External links

Sri Lanka NavyAdmiral D.B. Goonesekara, ndc, psc - Sri Lanka NavyBasil Gunasekara: First post-war Commander of the Navy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunasekara, Basil 1929 births Commanders of the Navy (Sri Lanka) Deshamanya Sri Lankan admirals Alumni of Mahinda College Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich National Defence College, India alumni Living people Sinhalese military personnel Sinhalese police officers